communicated by:
ProMED-mailpromed@promedmail.org[On 29 Dec 2010, ProMED-mail published information from a reliable source on suspected FMD cases in cattle in Iraq. This was followed, several weeks later, by a submission from a senior agriculture adviser to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), Erbil-Iraq, encouragingIraq and other countries of the region to submit samples and to "have a good reporting and recording system, be fully transparent, and use all facilities available to us." In a commentary, ProMED-mail joinedthe expectation for "samples from Iraq, either already available or to be derived soon from adequate animals, to be submitted to the WRLFMD for identification, serotyping and genotyping. This is particularly important to exclude exotic strains."
It is indeed encouraging to note that 17 samples have been submitted in April from Iraq to the WRLFMD. According to WRLFMD data, the FMDV-O strain which has been recently identified in Bulgaria (ANT-10 sub-lineage of the PanAsia-2 lineage), has been spreading in the region, including Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan and Turkey. A recent single outbreak in Israel was also caused by the same strain
(http://www.wrlfmd.org/fmd_genotyping/2011/WRLFMD-2011-00016%20O%20Israel%202011.pdf).

Since Iraq borders both Iran and Turkey, it may be assumed that regional virus strains may be circulating within its borders. Their serotyping and genotyping results are anticipated with interest. -
Mod.AS]

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WHY A BLOG? لماذا الموقع

Land and water resources, plant and animal production, animal health, plant disease and food safety are factors that affect the ability of a nation to achieve food security. I firmly believe that food security is as important as national security for any nation in the world.

Unfortunately, at the present time in Kurdistan and indeed in all Iraq, we are complacent with regard to food security because we currently have the hard currency that allows us to import most of the food and drink we require. However there are no checks to ensure the safety of the imported food and the time will soon come when the global demand for food will result in food shortage and high prices. Global food production must doubled by 2050 when the world's population will be around 9.2 billion population. I must do what I can to make everyone realise that we must work hard to improve agriculture output and produce at least some of the nation's food requirements.

I retired from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) almost 4 years ago having spent over 33 years in Africa and Middle East and hope that this simple blog will help me impart some of my experience to a younger generation of agriculturists, veterinarians and others involved in plant and animal husbandry. They have the resposibility of producing food for the future.